IRAN RISES

Kurdish civil activists emphasize that since there is no way to hold a meeting or march in this region, the only way to protest the falsification of the elections and the repression of the demonstrations of the people of Tehran is to close the bazaar and the shops. On Tuesday, 40% of the shops and passages of Sanandaj have been closed.
Mokhtar Zare`i, a social activist, says of the crushing of any kind of protest and the high level of monitoring of every opponent in Kurdistan, “Some of the political activists of the  Kurdish United Front (link, link), the Students Union, and human rights activists have been called in and threatened. They said that we will consider you responsible for anything that happens. They said that we have made the decision to open fire and attack any gathering, no matter how small.”

Hadi Adab, a member of the Kurdish United Front, called this strike a symbolic step by the people of Kurdistan. He believes that the range of the general strike in Kurdistan will be limited, but considering the local and regional situation and the many threats and warnings, it is best that they refrain from holding demonstrations or meetings and that the Kurds’ solidarity and protests be expressed in this form.”

Hadi Adab continued, “White collar workers are dependent on the government for survival and it cannot be expected of them that they participate in the strike. In recent years, the government’s policy has been to hire non-native people in the bureaucracy. As a result, the bureaucracy in Sanandaj today is busy at work, but the craftsmen and bazaaris have to a degree cooperated with this call.

Mokhtar Zare`i and Hadi Adab say that a significant portion of the silent voices of the Kurds have entered the field because of the ethnic promises of the reformist candidates and appeals to participate by the Kurdish parties abroad. According to them, although the security situation has enforced a relative silence among the Kurds, their sentiments resulting from their desperation and distrust can be likened to “a fire beneath the ashes.”

–written by Mahindokht Mesbah, edited by Behnam Bavandpur

Deutsche Welle, June 26, 2009

http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,4418070,00.html

Thanks for the reference, Pantea.

More on the strike in Kurdistan:

According to Reva News, “The bazar and public utilities in the cities of Sanandaj, Mahabad, Divandareh, Urmia, Kermanshah, and Bukan are half-closed and the people will rally to the strikers more and more every minute. Public utilities are completely shut down in Saqqez and Naqqadeh.”

http://www.rawanews.com/details.aspx?=News&ID=508&Babat=5

Uptdate:

Photographs of the shut-down of the Saqqez bazaar can be seen in:

http://news.gooya.com/en/archives/2009/06/photos_of_striking_of_retailers_in.html.